The Lady with the Dark Hair
Author: Erin Bartels
Genre: Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction
Page Count: 352
The Lady with the Dark Hair is a dual timeline novel with strong female main characters. Readers travel the world with Viviana Torrens in the late 1800s, learning about some of her own personal struggles and the struggles of females in the art world at that time. Meanwhile in current time, Esther Markstrom is facing her own struggles, caring for a mother with mental health issues and attempting to keep her family's art museum afloat. The story of Viviana creating her art and finding herself intertwines with the narrative of Esther finding that same art and also rediscovering her own identity. Both women initially relied on others to define who they were. Both women went on a journey and eventually determined who they were on their own right.
I really enjoyed this book. I actually would have liked a little more self-discovery from Esther. She struggles with loss of identity at one point in the book, and I would have liked to see more of how she embraced herself. I think, if it were up to me, books that I enjoy would be much longer!! I loved the structure of this book. As the narrative alternated between Viviana's and Esther's lives, the paths crossed closer and closer, with Esther walking the same spaces that Viviana walked and gazing at the paintings Viviana had created while learning more about her own ancestors.
Great Book. Great Author. Highly recommend this one and more. Two others that I have read and enjoyed are We Hope for Better Things and The Words Between Us! Go check out one (or more), you won't regret it!
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